Of Crystal Balls and Clueless Friends
by Willowth'Wisp
Summary: The Marauders know full well how much James loves Lily- so, backed by Sirius, they enchant a crystal ball to show Lily going on a date with their friend. Craziness ensues, and really, Sirius is behind it, so how could it not. (kept up for sentimentality's sake)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Oh. Well. Hi there. :P I'm very new at fanfiction, and this is my very first story! (well, that I'm going to publish, anyway XD) I'm, uh, still working out the technical know-how and all too.  
Well, this is a Harry Potter fic, about Lily and James, because they are fabulous. XP

Summary: James Potter has been crazy over Lily Evans from day 1, and all the Marauders (as well as the rest of the school) knows it. Also well-known is the fact that Lily wants nothing to do with "the arrogant prat," so the Marauders take things into their own hands... Craziness ensues, because Sirius Black is behind it, and really, it can't be anything else if he's involved.

 **Chapter 1**

Remus POV

The fire crackling in the hearth radiated heat from dancing orange tongues, and the boy on the couch nestled further into the blankets and cushions, closed off in his own personal bubble of warmth and comfort, with his sole companion being a book.  
He was one of the few, however, who was able to disregard the tension simmering as heatedly as the coals. Lily sat on the sofa to his left, firing looks of hatred from her unique eyes at none other than James Potter, who lounged easily on the armchair to Remus's right, and who was smirking at Lily.  
Remus turned the page and continued scanning the paragraph about Switching Spells, wondering idly which of his friends would cave first.  
Directly across from Remus sat Sirius and Peter, with the former's arms propped on a footrest looking bored, and the latter's eyes batting eagerly from Lily to James, like watching a- he believed it was a Muggle sport by the name of 'tennis'- match.

Silence hovered over them all, though highly different to each. Lily's was surly, James's was provocative, Sirius's was boredom, Peter's was anticipation, and Remus's seemed to be the only comfortable one of the five Gryffindors, though floating above them all was a tension like the calm before tsunami hit the sand.  
James leaned forward and Remus braced himself, but kept his outward appearance one of calm indifference, though his eyes had frozen on the page.  
"So. Lily. How long are you going to stay mad about Snivellus?"  
Against his better judgement, Remus's eyes flicked upward to see Lily pinning James with a hard stare. "Until you apologize, _Potter_."  
James splayed his hands, hazel eyes falsely innocent. "It was a simple misunderstanding, Lils."  
"No, it was _sabotage_."  
"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?"  
"Don't you think you're being a little immature?" she countered. "You're seventeen, Potter, and you're still reduced to making other people's potions explode."  
Sirius snickered, and James shot a glare at him when Lily's gaze shifted to Remus for support, but the boy kept his eyes fixed on his book, determined not to get involved.  
"That wasn't even me," James protested, widening his eyes guilelessly, and Remus resisted a snort. "I was all the way across the classroom. How could I have done anything to the potion? Snive- Snape must have just messed it up. He's not infallible." James looked as though he sorely wanted to add something else- something snarky- but Remus was rather proud of him when he managed to stop there.  
"He's incredible at Potions, and there is no way he messed it up so badly it splashed the _ceiling_."  
Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder and rose, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Without a word, she stalked past James, wishing Sirius, Peter, and Remus a goodnight, and ignored James thoroughly and completely.

As soon as she had vanished up the girls' dormitories- James watching her go through narrowed eyes- the mischief-maker whirled on his friends and groaned. "What does she see in him?"  
Remus was unable to help a loud snort, and three pairs of eyes swiveled to him.  
"You've been awfully quiet, Moony," said Sirius suspiciously, cocking his head at him, but he only shrugged.  
"Nothing to say," he responded lightly, but Sirius rolled his eyes.  
"Oh come on, Moony, give us your words of wisdom. You're friends with Lily, right?"  
"Yeah, sort of," he muttered, closing his book with a resigned sigh and sitting up. "Look, James, mate, if you want to win over a girl, don't go around picking on her best friend."  
He shrugged. "Or at least, that would be a good place to start."  
James sank back onto the pillows, looking disappointed and depressed. "But how did she even know it was me?"  
"Who else would it be?" Remus answered, raising his eyes to the ceiling and praying for patience.  
"Everybody hates Snape," Sirius responded matter-of-factly. "It could've been anyone."  
Remus shrugged. "It was James this time, wasn't it?"  
"Will neither confirm nor deny."  
James flashed a grin for a moment that told Remus all he needed to know of the culprit, before the gloomy look was back. He departed soon after with a wave and a still-surly expression.

"He's crazy about her," Peter voiced the obvious, sinking into Lily's abandoned place.  
"Mmhmm."  
"Hey, what if we helped him out? I mean, he obviously doesn't know what he's doing. We could just...give them a nudge, you know?" suggested the young Black.  
Remus looked up, wary. "What?"  
Sirius grinned, and he recognized the look. It meant Sirius had an idea, and Remus wondered despairingly about taking refuge in the Womping Willow until this was all over.  
"I know the female mind, Moony-"  
Remus snorted.  
"-and they love knowing their futures." Sirius dragged out the 'o' in love, and the other boy listed his head at him, nonplussed and wondering where this was coming from.  
"So what if we got ahold of a crystal ball..."  
Remus and Peter exchanged looks.  
"...and enchanted it so when Lily looked in it, she saw herself on a date with James!"  
He blinked. Blinked again. Then started to chuckle.

Sirius, looking mildly insulted, asked, "What? It's brilliant!"  
Peter nodded worshipfully and looked curiously at the still-laughing Remus.  
"How- How did you even come with that?" he asked at last, putting his book down, still grinning.  
"Had Divination today," he answered with a shrug, still viewing him with confusion.  
Remus shook his head, smile fading slightly. "That's stupid. Do you really think Lily would fall for that?"  
"Why not?" asked Sirius, looking offended once more.  
He shook his head. "She's cleverer than that. Besides, how would you even go about bewitching a crystal ball?"  
The other boy shrugged, expression falling into smugness once more. "I was going to leave that up to you, actually."  
Remus raised an eyebrow and picked up his book again, ready to disappear into its thankfully logical depths once more.  
"No! Remus, come on. James has been crazy about her since he was _eleven_. He deserves a chance, don't you think?" he coaxed.  
Remus hesitated, his hands stilling over the pages. Sirius had a point... Admittedly, he wished Lily didn't have to be manipulated into going on a date with James, but at the same time, Lily had never exactly given James much of a chance...  
He paused, flicking his eyes up to see Sirius looking at him hopefully while trying to smother a grin of triumph. Apparently he thought he'd won him over, and Remus was surprised to find himself considering it.  
He wanted to help James. He did. But at the same time...  
"Oh alright," he sighed at last, and Sirius let out a whoop, coming over to clap him on the shoulder.  
Remus was fairly sure he would come to regret this decision.

* * *

He browsed the library, plundering it for every book on Divination he could find, and reflected with amusement on Sirius's excuses to James when asked why they were acting so strange.  
He had tried to justify this idea to himself by pinning it on pity and affection for his friend. As for Lily... Well, that just made him guilt douse his stomach, but he shoved it down deep.  
This was for James, and if Lily decided she liked him once he behaved himself, maybe they would be responsible for bringing the two together.  
Which sounded feeble even to him, so Remus shoved it away and tried not to think about it, or about what he'd been thinking when he first agreed to this.  
He tipped open a book, found the spell he was looking for, and sat down to read.

* * *

A/N: Hey, again, I'm a noob and I'd love it if you reviewed and commented on my story! I'd prefer it if you didn't flame me though, please 0.o


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Heyoooo, I'm back!

iAmAMarauderAtHeart: Oh my gosh, thanks so much! I forget how the idea occurred to me, actually. XD It was a while ago. XD  
I jump around a bit in this chapter. O.O

Disclaimer: (forgot to add this last time) I don't own any of the characters, I only own the shenanigans I put them through XD

 **Chapter Two:**

Sirius POV

Sneaky fingers pried the trapdoor open, the owner dangling below on a spindly silver ladder, with two of his friends gazing up at him with very different expressions. Moony, obviously, was looking torn between exasperation and amusement. Peter, per usual, looked fascinated, and Sirius smirked under his admiring eyes. He pushed the trapdoor open and poked his handsome head through, peering around with dark, mischievous eyes.

"She's not here," he whispered with a grin, and slipped, cat-like, into the room.

"Are you sure?" asked Moony's voice boredly, from down below. "She could be hiding in the shadows again."

"True, true. Crazy bat," muttered Sirius, but glancing around the shadow-draped chairs and crannies to make sure the glittering teacher was not in fact plotting an ambush. Satisfied that she wasn't- he wouldn't put it past her though- he made his way to the back of the room and pulled a lacy violet covering off the table, revealing the dozen milky white spheres that would decide James's love life.

 _Oh yes, oh yes..._

Grinning like the fanatic that he was, Sirius picked up the nearest one, rolling it idly from hand-to-hand. As Moony crawled through the hole, he tossed a grin over his shoulder at the other boy and picked up two more.

"What are you doing?" asked Remus suspiciously, before his eyes widened, because Sirius was proving once again what an utter _idiot_ he could be.

He proceeded to juggle the three balls, tossing them high, higher, into the air, a carefree smirk on his face that just _dared_ Moony to say something.

"You are a git," Remus informed him flatly, after a moment of appalled silence. "She will _kill_ you."

Sirius laughed and then, feeling like he'd tortured the teacher's pet enough, he set two of them down and tossed the last one to Moony, who just barely caught it.

"So you know the spell, right?"

"Bloody hell, Padfoot," he muttered, scrambling down the ladder as though he couldn't wait to be as far from Sirius as possible.

He grinned, snickering, and followed suit, highly enjoying the annoyed expression on his friend's face.

Lily POV

Lily nibbled on her piece of toast, turning the page of her textbook and forcing Alice's excited chatter _out_ of her ears as best as possible when the topic was a certain sweaty Marauder having just wandered off the Quidditch pitch.

"He's hot, he's hot, he's hot, he's hot, he's hot, he's hooooooot-"

She simply couldn't ignore it any longer.

She slammed her book shut and looked up at the other girl, who was grinning with a devil's light in her bright eyes. " _What_?"

"I'm trying to hypnotize you."

Lily stared at her. "You're what now?"

Alice grinned and simply twirled a lock of wavy brown hair around her fingers, fluttering her fingers idly in Lily's direction. "Never mind, dear, you'll get it eventually."

She scowled. "I thought you and Frank were...?"

Alice flushed and waved her hand a little more forcefully at her, to which Lily let an amused grin flit across her features. "Yes! We are! I mean, wait, what are you even asking?"

Lily giggled at her, and after a moment, Alice joined in, red-faced.

"Anyway, what does hypnosis have to do with saying, 'he's hot', over and over again?" she asked, once her snickers subsided.

Alice shrugged and peeled her banana. "Obviously, if I say it enough times, you'll have to admit it to yourself. I mean, I know you think it's already true-" Alice shot her a sly wink, to which Lily rolled her eyes. "-but you just hafta admit it."

She waved her bacon at Lily, apparently trying to look forbidding- a task made hard by her mouthful of fruit- but ending looking cute, as Alice always managed to pull off. "You two are meant to be, Lils."

"Oh, not you too," groaned the other Gryffindor, tempted to thunk her head down on the table. "The Marauders are already my shipping squad- why do you have to go and encourage them?"

Alice just giggled and offered her half her bacon, and Lily couldn't help but grin with undisguised affection at her friend.

Lily made her way down the halls, thinking vaguely of finishing her Charms essay- but more likely to settle into a chair with a good book- when she happened to see a shifty, excited Sirius Black slipping out of the library with his hands behind his back.

She raised her eyebrows, curious, and halted. She listed her head, watching him with confusion.

Whatever was behind his back, Sirius was keeping it there, and it didn't surprise her when Moony came out of the library next, looking rather disgruntled.

Sirius turned towards her and their eyes met, shocked black on the puzzled green.

"Evans!" he gasped, hastily stuffing the object behind him even further out of view. "Um..."

"Hi," she said slowly, her cocked eyebrow rising into her fringe of red bangs. "What were you doing in the library, Black?"

He had the nerve to look vaguely affronted, and amusement bubbled in the pit of her stomach. "I could've just been studying, Evans. Why the suspicion?"

Lily snorted and shifted her bag to her other hip. "Right. Sirius Black. Studying. Don't make me laugh."

Moony snickered and Sirius slapped a splay-fingered hand to his chest, magnifying his insulted expression to comic proportions, until Lily had to let loose a laugh too.

"Come on, Black, seriously, you never set foot in the library unless you can help it. What gives?"

"Well, I don't believe that's any of your business, Evans."

The corners of Lily's lips twitched upward. Obviously, with a comment like that, she wasn't going to leave it alone.

"It's my business if you've rigged the library with Dungbombs or something."

"I'm going to dinner," muttered Remus, nodding politely at Lily. "See you in Herbology, Lily."

"Bye," she said, flashing him a quick, friendly smile, before turning a piercing gaze back to Black, who still hadn't taken his hands from behind his back.

"Hey, I've never actually done that before. Thanks for the idea though." He smirked, and Lily, rolling her eyes, suddenly understood why he and James got along so well. Their thought processes were the basically the same.

"Are you seriously going to leave me hanging?"

"Yep."

Lily shrugged and sauntered forward. "Okay."

As she passed, she 'accidentally' bumped into his shoulder with her own, and his grip on the mystery object loosened- it must've been bulky.

She craned her neck to see a white sphere about the size of a bowling ball thunk onto the floor and roll away from them; Lily was after it in a moment. She picked it up, turning it over, and realized with a slight jolt that this was a crystal ball, which she only knew from books, having never bothered with Divination before.

But maybe she should pick it up, because she had no idea how to interpret what she saw in the gloomy white depths.

It was her. Her, and James. James _Potter_.

They were seated at a table- maybe in The Three Broomsticks?- talking, chatting, she even laughed sometimes and James looked far more relaxed than she had ever seen him.

She blinked. Blinked again. Dropped the sphere and whirled on Black, who- was it her imagination?- looked almost smug. But he always looked smug, and each wave of shock was quickly obliterating everything else.

"What- What was-"

"Ah, you caught me, Evans. I really was doing my homework. Divination homework," he added significantly, then pouted comically. "Promise you won't tell anyone? It would ruin my reputation."

Lily glared at him, picked up the ball, and shoved it back into his arms. "Won't tell anyone you were actually doing what you were supposed to, for once?" She snorted. "Wouldn't dream of it. People would call me crazy."

She marched past him and into the library, and sucked in a deep breath, before guilt punched her in the gut. She shouldn't have snapped at Black. He hadn't deserved that- he'd just been standing there and it wasn't his fault she saw- she saw-

Lily swallowed down another deep breath, but it did nothing to soothe her.

She didn't understand.

She wouldn't go out with James Potter in a million years, as she'd told him on more than one occasion, so why- so how-?

She hadn't looked any older in the crystal ball. Neither had James. Whenever the image depicted, it had to be soon. This year, probably.

So, when faced with a complicated problem with no apparent solution that also had to do with a boy, she did the thing any sensible girl in her place would.

She darted off to find her best friend.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed! She has officially seen it ;P


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: WHOA, I got favorites and followers and reviews and I'm freaking out. XD Thanks so much guys! It means a lot!

 **Chapter Three**

Lily POV

"-and then I pushed it at him and walked into the library. I mean- What-"

Lily's hand gestured wildly in the air above her head, before falling limply to her side, and the legs under her head vibrated as their owner tried to conceal a badly suppressed laugh.

Lily tilted her chin upward, further into Alice's lap, and glared at her.

The other girl giggled, running a brush through her hair- the girls had long ago decided that even though they could do it by magic, it just didn't feel as good as having it brushed for them- and said, "Well... You could just go out with him."

Lily smacked a pillow against her face and groaned. "You're no help. Like, _at all_."

"You have to give him credit for being persistent."

" _Alice_."

"What?"

She opened her eyes and looked at her pleadingly, widening her eyes to a huge, pitiful size, until she sighed, relenting. "Oh alright, alright."

She pulled the brush through her brazen mane of red hair again, tugging out the snarls, and Lily waited for the wisdom laced in silliness.

"Well... Just from an objective point-of-view, not an annoying friend's, 'kay?"

Lily snorted, interested to see Alice try to be unbiased. "Sure."

"If everyone's trying to tell you that maybe he's good for you, even your _future_ , even me- and you know I'm never wrong-, then why not give it a shot? It's just a date, right? And if you decide you still don't like him- which will confirm you're a lesbian, by the way-, I promise I won't say a word about it."

Lily raised her eyebrows, and Alice grinned. "Well, for a long, long time, until you've both been out of Hogwarts for years and meet again at a fancy ball and realize your true love for one another, anyway."

Lily snorted a laugh, unable to contain it any longer, but maybe... Maybe Alice was right. Well, about the 'giving it a shot' part- the rest of it was just Alice being Alice, but that was the part that made her laugh and love Alice so much, so while her subconscious turned it over, she chuckled until the problem didn't seem so dire as it did before.

The other grinned at her, continuing to tug the knots out of her hair, and eventually poked her into submission. "So? What're you gonna do?"

Lily brushed the offending finger away and shrugged, sitting up and wordlessly, Alice handed her the brush and settled her head into Lily's lap, and the redhead began the job Alice abandoned.

"Don't know yet," she replied meditatively, then grimaced. "Alice, when was the last time you brushed this?"

"I dunno," she answered carelessly. "I was busy today. And yesterday."

Lily rolled her eyes, doubting that, and deadpanned pointedly, "Tell me one thing you did yesterday."

Alice thought about it, then looked at her, rueful blue eyes bright with amusement for Lily's coming reaction. "I forget. Oh, wait! I ate breakfast."

Looking quite self-satisfied, the girl prodded Lily's hand, and she obediently lowered it to her head once more. "And breakfast was?"

"Uhh... Eggs! Or toast... Y'know what, that's beside the point."

Lily, trying to be exasperated, just found herself amused. "But it's not even just about a date. It's a matter of _pride_."

"Aha," said Alice triumphantly, waggling a finger at her. "I knew it. It's not about James anymore, it's because you're too stubborn to admit you might be wrong. _That's_ what this about."

Lily waved it away. "No! James is still an arrogant prat, and I don't even want to imagine his reaction if I accepted the next time he asks."

Alice grinned, and Lily, recognizing the dancing devil's light in her eyes, arched her eyebrows in anticipation of the coming storm.

"Then how about you ask him out?"

Lily blinked, pausing. "What?"

She giggled and sat up, turning to face her. "Throw him off balance! I'm kind of curious what a flustered James would be like, actually," she added meditatively, then shrugged.

"That'll just make it worse."

"But it'll be funny."

"Alice, have you seen the way he acts? Messing his hair up to look like he just got off the Quidditch pitch, cursing Sev just because he can-" her voice hitched slightly over the thought of Severus, but she steamrolled on- one boy at a time, "-and waving his 'oh-so-special' all O's report card in everyone's face? What do you think he'd do if I _asked him out?_ "

Alice tucked her arms around her knees, looking unexpectedly sage. "Probably act like an arrogant prat, but be as happy as anyone else when the one they like finally notices them too."

Lily stared at her, and the other girl grinned. "Just a thought, Lils."

Remus POV

Remus leaned against the sofa, discreetly opening his book and scanning the first few lines, before Sirius passed by and pulled it out of his hands. He flashed a quick glare with no real bite behind it at him, before flopping over backwards onto the couch.

"So... Lemme get this straight. You enchanted a crystal ball to make Lily think she's in love with me?"

Remus snorted, tucking his face into the crook of his elbow. "Not quite." Without looking, he waved an arm at Sirius. "All yours, Padfoot."

He heard more than saw Sirius's grin as he strode forward, all charisma, and sat beside James. "Yeah, that's what we did."

Remus poked his head out and frowned at Sirius, opening his mouth to correct him, and then spotted the goofball grin on James's face. Panic rushed through him at that expression and he sat up, frantic to stem whatever idea was running through his mind before he did something stupid. What had he been thinking, letting Sirius tell him what happened? "No, Prongs, we made her think she's going to go on a date with you."

He flashed an admonishing look at Sirius, who made a face in return, and said, "Killjoy. I wanted to see what he would do."

James pushed him off the sofa, and he fell with a laugh and a thud. "I'm not a science experiment, Padfoot."

James still looked delighted, but after a moment, the look faded. Remus cocked his head curiously at him, but Sirius, teasing him about being the best man at his wedding, apparently didn't notice the change.

"What's up, James?"

The Seeker looked up, and the for-once serious expression flew off to be replaced with his usual careless smirk, and he lifted his feet to drape them over the sofa arm. "Nothing, Moony. Thanks, guys, really."

Remus's eyes narrowed, but he shrugged, picking up his book where Padfoot had discarded it, and flipped it open to his page. Keeping his eyes on the page as Sirius passed to go get another butterbeer, he waited until the young Black was out of earshot, before saying casually, "Having second thoughts, Prongs?"

Though he couldn't see him directly, he knew James had looked up, startled.

He raised his eyes to meet his friend's, his head slightly tilted, wondering for the first time if James was...a shade- a _shade_ \- more mature than he'd thought.

Finally, the walls in the hazel eyes lowered, and he sighed, running a hand through his black hair and leaning back on the cushions. He splayed his hands helplessly, the vulnerability taking Remus by surprise.

"I just didn't want it to be this way."

Remus cocked his head, waiting.

"I didn't want her to be...manipulated into liking me, you know? After six and a half years... That feels like cheating."

He blinked. Wow. That was unexpected.

He closed the book and leaned forward, head still tilted. "She's not being manipulated into _liking_ you, Prongs. She's..."

"-being manipulated into going out with me. Is there a difference?" asked James quietly, eyes intent on his friend's face, and Remus realized with an uncomfortable jolt that whatever he said next had to be good enough to put James's conscience at ease- a task made harder when his own kept twinging with the same questions.

Guilt prickled along his spine and he unconsciously began chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"Yes," he said quietly, then grimaced. "But not much."

James sighed and leaned back, looking away. "That's what I thought."

Remus's stomach writhed with guilt. "Prongs, I-"

"No, it's fine," he said brusquely, cutting him off with an abruptness that made the other boy resist a flinch.

After a moment in which the crackling and popping of the fire was the only sound, Remus asked softly, unsure of whether he wanted to hear the answer, "What are you going to do now?"

James examined his socked toes. "I don't know yet."

A/N: Read and Review please! It makes me so happy! ;P


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: It took me foreverrrrr to figure out where to go with this chapter. T.T Writer's block is a terrible, terrible force of nature. :(

iAmAMarauderAtHe: Ah, no, actually I did not mean to do that XD Funny though, lol. Hagrid did say once that the Weasley twins could give the Marauders a run for their money XD

Bella: Thank yoooou! :P

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! Just the crazy shenanigans I put them through... ;D

 **Chapter Four**

Lily POV

Lily stared, her mouth hanging unattractively open, at the sight of Potter striding straight past Sev without a cutting word or a slash of his wand. In fact, Potter didn't seem there at all, wandering aimlessly down the hall like he was in another world, where his aggression for Sev didn't exist.

If such a place could be real, Lily would be very interested to see it.

She peeked from behind the pillar at him, curious as to what could cause Potter to be so very, very out of it. Sev snapped a quick word at him that Lily couldn't catch, and she frowned. Always fighting. Always, always, always.

To her everlasting shock, Potter glanced sideways at Sev, and though he smirked and said something presumably snarky in return, he didn't linger. He strode down the hall in the direction of the Gryffindor common room, Sev scowling after him.

Lily withdrew, bewildered. What had gotten into Potter?

She departed for Charms, still mulling over the strange scene she'd stumbled upon.

As she slid into the seat and piled her books before her, Remus slipped into his usual seat beside her, and she turned over the idea of asking him what miracle was making Potter act slightly less-than-a-douchebag.

However, as she looked at him fully, she blinked and shut her mouth again.

Remus's cheeks were pale, his eyes tired and dulled over with lack of sleep or something else, and his hair wasn't combed. He usually looked...well, less than fashionable, but this...

"Remus?"

"Mm?"

"Are you, um, okay?"

He looked at her, big brown eyes like a startled calf's. "Why?"

"You... Uh..." She shifted awkwardly in her seat, then decided the brutal truth was the best truth. "You look awful."

He shrugged and parted his Charms book, the halves of the book thumping against the wood and stirring dust to rise, gleaming, in the sun pouring through the window.

He hadn't answered her.

Lily's eyes narrowed and she prodded him with her quill. Two Marauders acting strangely in one day. Coincidence? She thought not. "Remus."

"Lily," he murmured, warning, and then indicated Professor Flitwick seating himself on his customary pile of books.

She glanced at him, then back at Remus, then back at Flitwick, who was occupied scrawling words across the board. Probably spells she already knew.

She chewed on the end of her quill, contemplating...

Then she turned back to Remus and shifted her head over...over...and rested it down directly on the crease of his book, her red hair sprawling like spilled wine across the page.

"What're you-?"

"Please? Potter's acting weird too."

Ha! There! Remus gave a guilty wince, and she eyed him from her awkward position. Her neck was starting to ache, Flitwick was bound to notice soon- some of her classmates were already shooting her strange looks-, and she wanted answers _now_.

The one bright green eye that could see Remus frowned at him, all disapproval and admonishment.

 _Now_ , Remus.

He scowled at her, and she, from her awkward, sideways position, scowled back.

Remus glanced up, and Lily prayed his self-consciousness would get him to spill better than mere words.

"Fine," he hissed, prodding her head off his book, but Lily refused to budge until he told her something worthwhile. "I messed up, okay? Flitwick's about to notice," he added as a grumble under his breath.

She hesitated, then rose and rearranged herself back into her seat. "Elaborate?"

"No."

"Remus."

He scrawled down a brief note, ignoring her completely.

"Real mature, Remus."

"Like covering my book with your..." He gestured vaguely at her head without looking up. "...hair, is mature?"

She waited.

He frowned at her, then indicated the front of the class, and mouthed, 'work.'

Sighing, she wrote down a quick sentence, then muttered out the corner of her mouth, "Potter didn't even curse Severus when he provoked him. Please, Remus, something's up."

"Why do you care about this so much?" he murmured back.

"Because I care about you." If his relations with his... _questionable_ company were upset, obviously that had to upset him too, right?

She eyed him speculatively, and he shifted uncomfortably under the weight of her gaze.

Remus POV

Merlin, she was on to him.

Exuding an air of the casual poise of a hard-working student, maintaining his refusal to acknowledge her presence until she stopped pestering him, and fighting to hide his anxiety was making him very, very nervous indeed.

He fidgeted, dipping his quill into his ink, avoiding her eyes and keeping his mouth shut at all costs. Goodness knows that mouth had caused enough trouble already.

Remus nearly exploded with the force of a sigh of relief when Flitwick floated by on an enchanted cushion, peering at Lily's work and tutting at her when all she had to show was a measly sentence.

His discomfort returned full force once Flitwick lighted off to go investigate other students, and Lily pinned him with a green gaze he still refused to meet. Coward.

"Lily," he muttered at last, desperate to get her off his tail. "I just made a miscalculation of James's, um, maturity...levels."

Wow. Lame.

"And, uh..."

She was staring at him. Great Merlin, why had he opened his big mouth? Again _._

 _"_ What the heck does _that_ mean?"

He grimaced.

And then the bell rang.

Beyond relieved, praising whoever invented the bell, Remus packed his books in record time and shot out the door faster than he could go in his wolf form.

Lily, however, was not to be deterred. She caught up to him in the hall, but to his everlasting consolation, she had stopped the interrogation to get lost in her own contemplation, if her expression was any indicator.

As Remus spotted Sirius in the courtyard, he made for him with a friendly departure to Lily, and then stopped dead upon seeing where the other Gryffindor was zeroing in.

Peter.

Oh no.

Remus choked on what felt like despair. Peter couldn't keep a secret to save his life- why Sirius had even mentioned the plan in front of him was beyond Remus, but- Oh Merlin-

He spun for Sirius and mouthed wildly at him, ignoring James as he joined him, 'she's on to me!'

Sirius cocked his head, confused, and Remus pointed at Lily as she smiled at Peter and began a conversation that _would_ have looked innocent if it had been anyone other than Miss Lily Snooping Evans.

Sirius's blinked and before Remus's startled eyes, galloped across the clearing only to skid to a halt in front of Lily.

Or at least, that was the intended action.

Padfoot apparently underestimated just how much momentum he carried, because it hurled him into Lily long after he tried to stop. And that wasn't the end of it. James, passing behind Lily- no doubt wondering what the hell Padfoot was up to-, was abruptly knocked off his feet when Lily lost her balance and careened into his chest with a squeak of surprise or embarrassment or both.

Like dominoes, first Sirius crashed into Lily, and perhaps James might have been able to keep from falling if Sirius hadn't given her extra weight, so down the three teenagers went in a heap.

Remus stared for a moment, then tucked his face into his palm with a groan. _Bloody, freaking brilliant, Padfoot. I am never listening to you again._

A/N: So? What did you think?


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi! I was feeling inspired, so here's one a little sooner than usual :P Also, I jump around...a lot...in this one. XD At least twice, I think

zihinbend: Thank you! Lol, she probably will XP

Hufflepuff227: Hi, thank you so much! I'm enjoying writing it XD As for my update schedule... It's sort of...once a week? Very loosely? I haven't really worked one out yet; it really depends on how lazy I'm feeling or how inspired I am. XP But I aim to have at least one chapter up each week :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters! Just the crazy shenanigans I put them through... ;D

 **Chapter Five**

Lily POV

Her heart didn't just _stop_.

It careened to a halt, then rammed against her chest like a battering ram, springing back to life and letting her know something was very, very wrong, pumping blood and heat to her face with fierceness she hadn't known since her first kiss, date, whatever- she couldn't be bothered to remember a time when her face felt this aflame.

She sprawled across a hard chest, unable to rise with Sirius's damned weight pinning her against James- _Merlin, it's James_ \- and before she could stop herself, an undignified squeak fell out of her mouth, tumbling and rolling about in the air for all to hear.

She blinked, trying to regain her bearings, and kept her face down so maybe, just maybe, James wouldn't notice the blush fluttering hot red feathers over her cheeks. Why was she so embarrassed, anyway? It was Sirius Doofus Black's fault, ramming into her like she was a door to be broken down.

"Potter," she snapped, her voice coming out harsher than she meant, mostly because when she got enough courage to lift her eyes to Potter's, he was _smirking_ at her, the jerk, "tell your friend to stop treating people like bowling pins."

Potter laughed at her, prodding Sirius, who rose and apparently gave Potter a look that got him to roll his eyes. Nevertheless, as Lily rose and dusted off her robes with dignity, he tilted his head with an air that was undeniably adorable- the realization annoyed her further- and asked, "What are bowling pins?"

Don't smile. Don't do it, Lily. _Don't_.

Too late.

He just looked so confused, and still sort of entertained at the same time. How could she not?

She snickered. "It's a muggle thing, Potter. Didn't you take Muggle Studies?"

He chuckled slightly, his eyes brightening like someone flicked a light on behind them, and Lily whirled on Sirius before her flush could darken. _For_ _no apparent reason_. What was wrong with her?

"Sirius, what the _hell_ -"

"Sorry!" he said hastily, holding up his hands in surrender, dark hair dusty. "It was an accident. I was coming over to, um, talk to Wormtail."

She stared at him. He had the same shifty look he had back in the library, and it made her instantly suspicious of anything that came out of that mouth. "And you couldn't walk?"

"Aw, come on, Lils," said a voice behind her, and an arm draped over her shoulders as Potter came to stand beside her. "That's boring."

" _Boring_?" she asked with a snort, slipping out of his embrace like it was second nature- which it was.

"Hey, it's not like anyone could call this-" he waved his hand around vaguely, not looking particularly bothered by her silent rejection- also probably second nature. "-boring."

"Hey Lily!"

Alice bounced out of the crowd that had gathered while she...flirted? bantered? chatted?- with Potter, and slipped an arm around her. "I heard _someone_ knocked you down."

The petite little brunette turned to glare at Sirius, who backed up with the start of an amused grin, and Lily grinned at her antics.

Still smiling, she said, "I'm fine, Alice. Just boys being _not-boring_." She flicked a pointed gaze at Potter, who smirked and shrugged helplessly, like it was out of his hands.

Alice POV

Lily was flirting.

Oh, she was totally, completely, head-over-heels and she had no idea, did she? But that's what Alice was here for. Of _course_ that's what she here for, because otherwise these two lovestruck idiots would dance around each other until some great-and-powerful shipper got tired of watching them and shoved them into a closet until they figured themselves out.

She could try that, actually. She bet she could do it, with the help of the Marauders- they'd be more than happy to give her a hand, she was sure.

She didn't realize her grin had turned evil until she noticed Lily giving her a wary look, and she giggled, hooking her arm through hers.

"Let's go to lunch before Alice makes something explode," Sirius broke in, and Lily nodded in agreement, looking like she wanted to laugh.

Oh no! Was the flirting-fest over so soon?

"Why don't you come join us?" offered Alice impulsively, because she couldn't bear for Lily and James to let their normal sassy distance yawn between them once more. Not when they were so close.

She smirked as Lily flashed her a surprised look.

To her everlasting shock, it was James who looked mildly uncomfortable as well- which _never_ happened-, but Sirius leaped at the opportunity.

As Sirius ushered them onward, Remus crossing the courtyard to join them, Alice hip-bumped Lily over to James. But something was off with him. Alice knew it, because he wasn't flirting up a storm, wasn't smirking like a douchebag, wasn't grinning with the sun behind his smile solely because Lily was there.

He looked vaguely guilty, and Alice's bluebell eyes narrowed as she fell into step beside Peter.

"Is James okay?" she whispered, and he looked up, pudgy face alarmed.

"Oh yeah, he's fine. He just, um, didn't sleep. At all."

Peter wasn't looking at her, and Alice cocked her head. She didn't know him as well as Lily did, but still, this didn't seem like him.

"Why not?" probed Alice, studying him more closely now, looking for signs of a lie.

Peter moistened his lips. "He was doing homework. And daydreaming, probably about Lily, so... He stayed up late."

 _Liar_.

What was really wrong with Potter?

Lily POV

He hadn't asked her out once.

And it was weirding her out.

He still flirted- sort of, in a much more subdued way than before, but...

"I'm just saying, if you hadn't been knocked over, you wouldn't be blessed with my fabulous company to lunch."

Never mind.

"Oh, what a _tragedy_ that would be," Lily retorted acidly, and he grinned.

"Wouldn't it though?"

"Get over yourself, please, Potter. You're going to give normal people headaches."

"Make me."

She glared up at him, but he just smiled, and she resisted the urge to smack him. She wondered if his nose would be less perfect on his face if she jinxed it... Wait, what? "I do have a Liplocker curse."

He raised an eyebrow, suggestively, and Lily turned bright red upon realizing just how _wrong_ that curse sounded. _Kill me._

Fighting down the urge to splutter and give in to the color on her cheeks, she lifted her chin and pinned him with a look, "Stop looking at me like I came up with the name."

He snickered. "By all means, Lily, use the Liplocker 'spell' on me. I'm not so sure it's a curse though."

She socked him in the chest, and of course he didn't budge an inch, just snorting a laugh and opening the door for her- such a gentleman, and it irked her more than words could say.

Holding her head high, she ignored the open door, instead opting to pull the second one beside it and walk through without a backwards glance. _Stupid, stupid boy with his stupid smirk and stupid jokes and stupid, stupid, stupid-_

She was going to murder Alice.

Growling under her breath, she marched into lunch and sat beside the already-seated Alice, and to her disappointment- joy?- James took the free seat beside her. Sirius swung into the seat across him and winked, and Remus settled himself quietly in front of Lily. Peter slunk up soon enough and picked at the cheese on the table.

She peeked sideways at the hazel-eyed boy who was busying himself piling his plate with an obscene amount of food.

 _His jawline is the worst. Definitely the worst._

She tugged on a red curl and looked at her plate, wondering what on earth was the matter with her. She had to get her head on straight.

An elbow prodded her in the side and she looked left to see Alice smiling and nodding at James, mouthing, 'go for it!'

A glance at James sent another flush filtering through her freckles, because he had seen and was apparently pretending he hadn't, which struck her as something James wouldn't...usually do. The James she remembered would have teased her relentlessly about how they were meant to be and a bunch of other weird fairytale stuff.

Now here he was pretending he hadn't heard because...why? Because he'd acquired some manners while she'd been too busy running from his proposals to realize he might be deflating his head a bit? Just a little?

She poked the ham around on her plate, thinking, and looked up when James tugged gently on one of her curls. "You're crinkling, Lils."

She batted his hand away, the nonplussed feeling booting her thoughts out the door, "What? No, I'm not." She didn't know what crinkling was, but she wasn't going to let him _know_ that.

"Yes, you are. Look, right...there." He lifted a hand and pressed the tip of his finger to the area right between her eyebrows, and she blinked, too startled to push him away. "That's totally a crinkle. What's up?"

"Um..."

He was close, too close, she couldn't breathe. She shook her head, dislodging his finger, and sucked in a breath. And perhaps it was the lack of oxygen, or perhaps it was because he actually looked concerned, or perhaps it was simply because she had to know, and Lily just blurted out at last, "Why didn't you curse Sev?"

James blinked. Apparently whatever he'd expected, it wasn't that. She watched his expression anxiously, chewing on her bottom lip, wondering despairingly if he'd just laugh it off. She would.

"Did you _want_ me to? Seriously, just say the word."

"No! You just, um, always do, and uh..."

He cocked his head, a smirk sprawling across his lips, and she gulped, determinedly keeping her eyes on his and not flitting to... _other_ parts of his face. "How do you know I didn't curse Snape?"

"Uh..."

Shit. _Shit_.

He raised his eyebrows in comical surprise, and she found herself with the strange dilemma of whether to smile or search frantically for an excuse to the question she knew he was about to ask-

"Were you _stalking_ me, Lily?"

A/N: I kinda thought James and Lily cuteness was overdue ;P Sorry to end on a bit of a cliffhanger, haha


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: *respawns* I'm alive, I swear ;P Sorry for the wait! Irl stuff decided to smack me. -.-

Hufflepuff277: Ahh, I'm so sorry it bothers you! But, well, the story is rated T for a reason. :/

 **Chapter Six**

Lily POV

After the embarrassing episode at lunch, Lily had extricated herself and, as humiliating as it was, hid in the library.

But she was studying, so _technically_ it wasn't hiding. Or at least that's what she was telling herself.

She tapped the end of her quill idly against her parchment, mulling over the ingredients to a potion more complicated than anything had a right to be- with the exception of emotions, life, and time travel- and her eyes flitted upward as Madam Pince prowled by, arms full of books.

And she would have ignored the librarian's glares- maybe returned them, if she was in the mood- except for the dully glinting title of one of the volumes: _Crystal Balls and How to Use Them_.

It was a thin book, and... She frowned. _Surely Sirius was lying about doing homework..._

But the book- which was probably being returned, if Madam Pince was putting them back on the shelves- seemed to disagree.

Baleful eyes cast a look her way and the redhead spoke before her luck ran out. "Are those books being returned?"

"Yes," was the suspicious reply.

Her own suspicion growing, Lily stood and strode over, a slight surge of satisfaction overtaking her at seeing that she could look Madam Pince in the eye. "Can I see that one about crystal balls please?"

The old woman reluctantly handed it over, hissing to be careful with the binding, and then disappeared among the columns of books.

Lily flipped it open.

Sure, it could just be a third-year returning a Divination book they'd checked out for some background reading. Yeah, it could be that Trelawney decided to vacate her tower for once to pilfer whatever the library had on her subject.

It could be anything innocent.

But... Her gut was telling her otherwise. Her gut was telling her something was very off.

Sirius didn't _do_ homework, and she was almost positive he didn't go into the library unless he had to. Even then, it was probably to look up how to properly make a Dungbomb or something.

The first few chapters taught basic skills, the middle ones delved into the lore of the ball, and the last...manipulation.

Lily sank into her chair and began to read, scanning line after inky line with a furrowed brow and a disregard for her abandoned homework.

Manipulation. Manipulating what the contents of the ball showed. Toying with peoples' heads.

She turned to the first chapter, which instructed the reader how to see into the ball, and... One was supposed to look into it. _Bore_ into it, and _focus_ , and- and-

She had not done that.

She had just picked up the milky orb that rolled from Sirius's clumsy hands.

Sirius was never clumsy. Sirius didn't make mistakes like that.

She couldn't breathe.

Lily stuffed her books into her bag, _Crystal Balls and How to Use Them_ in hand, and darted for Trelawney's tower.

Her mind hummed as she climbed stairs and strode down halls, her fury growing as her pulse raced and her tentative trust- her timid belief that maybe Potter had changed- splintered.

 _Is he seriously that desperate?_

Was that really a question? She had never known a Hogwarts without James doing something stupid to catch her attention.

She pointed her wand at the trapdoor and the ladder fell with a graceful swoop, silver ropes glinting gently. She stuffed her bag back over her shoulder, thrust her wand into her pocket, and clambered up the ladder, strangling the rungs.

Her head popped through the top, green eyes glittering with purpose, and ignored the surprised Trelawney seated by her sweltering fire, elegant red book in hand.

"Hello, dear-"

"Hi," she answered tersely, striding for the table of crystal balls. "I need to borrow a crystal ball."

"Oh!"

Without even looking, Lily could tell her eyes had lit up behind those massive monocles. She cringed inwardly, waiting-

"Are you seeking to learn of the one your heart yearns for?"

Yep, that's what she'd been waiting for.

She glanced over her shoulder, raising one cool red brow. "Um. Not exactly."

"Oh my dear, I have experience in these matters-"

Lily tuned her out then, scooping up a ball and gazing at it intently, willing it to just...show her the truth.

What she wanted the truth to be, she wasn't sure.

She didn't want it to show the scene from before. She didn't want to go out with James because a futuristic tool told her to.

But she didn't want James to have lied to her.

She didn't want to be _wrong_ about him.

Swirls of white laced with silver sluggishly pooled behind the glass, but no image appeared, James-less or otherwise.

Why would she see something before that she didn't see now? Did it mean the future had changed?

Or did it mean that future was never real to begin with?

"Professor," she began, still gazing at the ball, and thought with vaguely hysterical amusement that if she was really desperate enough to go and ask Trelawney and expect to get a factual answer, she was losing it.

But she did it anyway.

Because she didn't know what else to do.

"If I saw an image in a crystal ball a few days ago, but don't see it again now, what does it mean?"

"Ah, my dear, the Sight is temperamental. It blesses very few. And-"

"Never mind," she interrupted, no longer caring if she sounded rude, and set the troublesome ball down. "I'll just read about it. Bye, Professor. Thanks for your..." She glanced at the dragonfly-like teacher, who looked affronted at being interrupted, but Lily couldn't bring herself to care. "...help."

She climbed down the ladder and went on her way, wondering what on earth she was going to do now.

She stopped, hand on the wall, and breathed in deeply through her nose, trying to absorb all that had happened in the past twenty minutes or so.

What was she going to do now?

She didn't even know what the truth was.

Seized with a sudden suspicion, Lily poked her head back through the trapdoor and asked, "Hey, uh, Professor?"

Trelawney sniffed.

"Is Sirius Black in your class?"

"No," she answered, fixing her eyes on her book, mouth a thin, disapproving line. "He was never blessed."

"Right," she said, doing her best not to roll her eyes. "Thank you."

She tried to sound a little more sincere, feeling just a tad guilty for her earlier behavior, and shut the door again.

Well, it proved Sirius had lied about his Divination homework. She knew it. She _knew_ it.

So what else could he be doing but enchanting the crystal ball?

Fury swelled. Why would James put him up to this? Why not do it himself?

 _Oh_.

She wouldn't have believed it for a moment if it was James who dropped the crystal ball. But it had been Sirius...

Oh, he was clever.

Lily pulled out her wand, twirling the wood over her fingers, and marched off to find the unfortunate boys fire in her eyes, anger rising to boil in her head, and hurt- hurt that she shoved down deep where she wouldn't have to face it- in her heart.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for the reviews! Reviews are life ;P This story is starting to wrap up, so thanks for reading this far! :) (but by no means am I done writing about Lily and James XP I'm thinking there'll be one or two more chapters, but that's just a rough estimation :) )**

zihinbend: Ah, thank you so much for your kind words! And I'm so sorry, I know I write short chapters, I've been trying to get better at that. :O So, uh, in apology for my smol nuggets of writing, have this chapter. XD

iAmAMarauderAtHeart: Hey fren! Thanks, haha. If you like emotional shenanigans, you'll like this chapter XP

 **Chapter Seven**

James POV

James had been stretching his considerably long body across the grass, one leg slung over a thick root, one hand idly buried in his hair, and with the other was messing with the Snitch he'd nicked from the Quidditch field.

Hey, being Captain of the Quidditch team had perks.

He had been laughing at something Sirius said.

He had been relaxed for the first time in days.

Until Lily marched through the doors, the wash of sunlight turning her hair to fire, her eyes blazing with a fury that simultaneously made him want to kiss her senseless and run in the opposite direction.

Was that weird? That was weird.

He started from the grass, blinking, and her gaze spoke of murder as it rested on him. He wondered how he had survived the last six years of this.

And then she was striding across the field, eyes flaming, and James swallowed slightly as he rose. Behind him, his friend had fallen silent, and in the back of his mind came the perpetually snarky voice that helped him keep what little sanity he had in the first place, _'thanks for the back-up, Padfoot.'_

She halted in front of him and he noticed with a trace of trepidation that her wand was out.

 _She knows._

A rush of relief tumbled over him, and with it, disgust for himself for _being_ relieved. He should have told her. He should have told her as soon as Remus told _him._

The fact that he was realizing this as soon as it was too late was further testament to what an _idiot_ he was.

"Lily-" he began, without knowing how he would finish even if he knew what the heck he was doing, but as it turned out, she didn't give him the chance either way.

"Tell me," she began, voice steadier than he would have thought, which was, quite frankly, terrifying. Most peoples' voices trembled when they were mad.

Not Lily.

James did his best not to cringe. But he did deserve it, in a way.

"Is this a joke?"

He winced.

" _Is this a joke?_ "

He raised his eyes to hers and held them there, no matter how much he longed to look away, and opened his mouth despite knowing it was a rhetorical question. "Lily-"

"Hilarious," she interrupted, nearly breathing fire, and he wondered if he was insane for noticing the purpose filling her stance, the sparks flying off those spruce-colored eyes, the furious up-and-down heave of her chest.

She was about to murder him and he was about to kiss her.

 _Not a good time. Not a good time._

"Really funny. Your best prank yet, I'd say."

"Hey, uh, Lily, about that-" said Sirius's voice behind them, and James started- he'd forgotten he was there. It was only mild consolation that Sirius was the only one who would see Lily wreck him- it wouldn't be the first time.

"Shut up, Black."

Oh, she was pissed.

Green eyes zeroed in on him, glittering with purpose and ferocity, and- oh Merlin. Why did he find this hot? This wasn't hot. This was justified. And kinda frightening.

"So," she breathed, turning back to face him, jabbing him the chest with her wand, and his lips twisted in a grimace as the tip burned a hole through the material. "I didn't think you were that desperate, you know. Didn't seem like something you'd do."

She laughed humorlessly, and he swallowed.

"But then I thought, no, it's _absolutely_ something you'd do. Last year, last chance, right? I'm not some kind of prize, _Potter_ , and if you haven't realized that in the last six years-"

"Lily-"

" _Stop talking_ ," she hissed.

And he stopped talking.

But...she had to know he wouldn't do that. Right? She was just ranting like the hotheaded dragon she was right now, right?

No. Why would she know that?

But he _didn't_ do that. For once in his life, he was innocent of what he was being blamed for, and it had never seemed more important that she know that he was- physically and mentally and emotionally and all those other 'ally's'- _unable_ to hurt her. But she didn't know that.

"Lily," began Sirius, a little more urgently, and she waved her wand without looking at him, and he fell silent. James chanced a glance over his shoulder to see what, exactly, Lily had done to his best friend, and found him mouthing wordlessly. Ah. Silencing Charm.

She laughed again, and it was the first time James would describe it as an ugly thing, and took a step away. The distance yawning between them felt like so much more than the few feet it really was.

"Lily, wait, I didn't-"

"I thought you'd changed, you know."

He stopped. "Wait- What?"

She rolled her eyes. "I. Thought. You. Had. Changed."

She shrugged and turned away. "We all make mistakes. Congratulations for making a huge one, _genius_."

"Lily, will you just listen-"

She walked away.

Panic- full fledged, roaring, rushing panic- filled him and he rushed after her.

He caught her shoulder and turned her to face him, "Lily-"

"Get-"

"Just _listen_."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously at the interruption, but he plowed on before she could hex him into oblivion.

"Yeah, I'm an idiot and I make dumb decisions and-"

"Is this supposed to make it better?"

"Shut up a minute, will you?"

She folded her arms and glared at him, but at least she wasn't walking away and giving off the illusion that he was losing her when he had never really had her.

"I do a bunch of stupid crap that no one in their right mind would think of, and I annoy the hell out of you to go out with me because I'm stupid and it's sort of... _habitual_ at this point, but I wouldn't _trick_ you into it-"

"That's literally what you just did!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Then who did!"

He hesitated, torn. He couldn't bear Lily looking at him with the loathing he'd broken down to mere dislike over a course of _years_ \- hard-won progress. He also couldn't betray his mates, even when some of their decisions were even worse than his own.

Lily.

Sirius.

Lily.

Sirius.

"Lily- I can't-"

She snorted, shrugging off his hands on her shoulders, and stepped away again.

 _No_.

"Lily-"

It was selfish. It was foolish. It was about the most useless thing he could say, but he said it anyway. "Please."

And for a moment, when those eyes glimmered and met his, when he couldn't breathe fast enough, when she swallowed so hard her throat bobbed, he thought... He thought maybe...

She was close. Closer than she had been before they'd been yelling in each other's faces. Closer than he'd ever gotten to her.

Getting closer.

And then-

She pushed him away, and he staggered back a step, hurt flashing across his face before he could properly hide it, and an echo of _no no no_ resounding like the mournful toll of a bell throughout his entire being.

And she walked away.

Remus POV

Sirius Black was the most bloody useless fool anyone could ask for.

And while Remus Lupin wished he could drown in his pit of guilt, that was not an option when it was his fault James was about to lose everything and get his heart broken and _then_ where would they be?

James would hate him, even if he was too decent to say it.

The school would hate him, and would not be afraid to say it.

Lily would be oblivious, and continue to act as friendly as ever to him, and that would be more torturous than any curse she could inflict.

And worse- so much worse- was the look in James's eye as passed Remus, leaving Sirius to tell him what happened.

So that was why he was charging down the halls with Alice in tow, because if anyone could find Lily while she was on an emotional rampage, it was her. Unfortunately, Alice wouldn't come with him until he told her...everything.

 _Everything_.

And Alice, to his everlasting surprise, had merely told him she would deal with him later but right now had a love life to save, whatever that meant.

He didn't pretend to understand Alice. But, well, he needed her right now, because he cared about James just as much as she cared about Lily, and he had to rectify this stupid mistake a of couple foolish seventeen-year-olds had made.

Alice halted abruptly, nearly causing Remus to slam into her, and he realized with a faint jolt in his midsection that they had come upon the Forbidden Forest.

"She likes hanging out along the fringes when she wants to think."

He nodded and glanced at her. "Thanks, Alice."

She eyed him beadily. "If you don't fix this, I am coming at you with everything I've got, and I'm bringing the Lily-and-James shipping squad with me."

He smiled slightly, even though he was only halfway sure she was joking, and entered the trees.

It took him about half an hour to find her, in which he was trying to figure out what, exactly, he would say to the fiery redhead to convince her not to set him on fire. When he finally found her, she was in a little glade, her wand twirling idly in one hand, three spheres of water about the size of Quaffles hovering in the air before her.

It was beautiful magic.

"Uh, hey Lily."

 _Great start, Remus. This is going to be fantastic_.

She looked up, the water splashing back into the pond, and said with surprising lightness, "Hey. I assume you've heard."

Heard that James was supposedly responsible? Or that she exploded on him?

Because, well, he knew the first part of the story far better than she did.

"That's, uh, actually why I'm here."

"Here to talk 'sense' into me, huh."

He sat down on a tree stump. "Okay, first of all, I want a promise that you're going to let me finish my story before you erupt, alright?"

She looked up again, green eyes wary, and at first he thought she would object. He held her eyes, and at long last, she nodded.

"I enchanted that crystal ball."

She tilted her head slightly to the side, flows and waterfalls of red hair tumbling like water over her shoulders. "What?"

"I did it. It was my fault. _All_ of it," he added significantly, and she blinked. "He didn't know. Well, until I told him, and then he objected. He didn't _want_ me to. He thought it was wrong, and he was right."

"You."

"Yes. Me. Not James."

She stared at him, mouth starting to part, and then something in her eyes cleared. "But...he knew."

"Well... Yeah."

She stood and Remus bit down on the tip of his tongue. _This is for James_.

"You enchanted the ball... And James knew. But didn't tell me. And you-"

She fisted her hands in her hair and paced, then glared at him with such venom he wondered how James managed to be on the receiving end of that time and time again without shriveling into soot by now.

" _Why_ would you do that?" Her voice rose slightly, and he made a face.

"Because in case you hadn't noticed, James is kind of in love with you."

She stared at him, hands falling. "What?"

He barked a laugh, bitterness starting to coil in his gut. It wasn't a good feeling. "Did you seriously not know?"

" _What?_ "

" _He loves you_."

Now he was on his feet too. "He's been in love with you for _ages_. And you keep brushing him off, brushing him aside, like he isn't worth even a glance. Do you know what it's like to watch that happen for years, Lily? Do you know what it's like to _not be good enough?_ "

She gaped, and he didn't know what the hell was spilling out of his mouth anymore.

"So yeah, I enchanted the crystal ball to make you do a double-take. I enchanted it to make you at least _look_ , for once."

He glared at her.

She stared at him.

Moments passed, slipping away into the void, never to return.

And then she stuffed her wand in her pocket, tossed her long spirals of red hair back, and brushed past him with her head high and her green eyes ablaze.

 **A/N: Wow, I love writing angst. XD Also, anyone feeling this brotherly love/loyalty thing the Marauders (minus Peter) have got going? Makes my heart so happy ^^ Also, hweh hweh hweh, sorry-not-sorry to end on a cliffhanger XD  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Enjoy! We're nearing the end! :O (that makes me really sad, actually D:)**

iAmAMarauderAtHeart: Heyo, thanks again, haha :) As for stretching it... Well, there's only so much I can do :O I'm thinking maybe...ten chapters? Give or take :O

zihinbend: Hi again! Yeah, I felt sorry for James as well, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun to write. (XD I'm evil XP)

LOTRhufflepuff: Wow, I'm so honored my fanfiction is the first you've ever read! (fun fact; this the first fanfiction I've ever written, so we're together in this, fren XD) And no no, I love constructive criticism! This site has loads of great writers and I wanna see what they all think :) Thanks so much for stopping by!

Disclaimer: I don't own these guys! Just the plot! :)

 **Chapter Eight**

James POV

He had really screwed up, hadn't he?

Of course he had. Lily had been furious with him before, but not like that. Obviously. What he had done- well, what he may as well have done- was despicable. Worse than anything he'd ever pulled before.

He hadn't stopped Sirius.

He hadn't even known Sirius was planning something, and he should have, because he had recruited and helped Sirius with many a strange shenanigan throughout the years, and he was the only person who _could_ have known. With, perhaps, the exception of Remus.

Worse, when he had known, he'd kept his mouth shut. He didn't even know if he could be sorry about it, and that was almost worse than this terrible feeling that she was gone for good.

He felt horrible, oh sure, but guilt wasn't the same as regret.

James stared up at the top of the fourposter, hands locked behind his neck, feeling more and more pathetic with each passing moment.

Lily POV

He loved her, according to Remus.

He _loved_ her.

What the heck was love? She didn't know. She didn't know what that word _meant_. Not really.

She loved Alice. She loved her parents. She loved Tuney, hard as she made it. But this was an entirely different branch, unfamiliar and alien.

How did _James_ \- silly, immature James- know what something as intense as love was and she didn't?

 _Do you know what it's like to_ _not be good enough_ _?_

She swallowed hard, hiking up the bag higher onto her shoulder, and finally with a frustrated groan dumped it behind a potted plant as she entered Hogwarts again.

No, she didn't know what that was like. But the words felt familiar.

She'd bet Petunia would know what it was like to not be good enough.

She moaned softly, holding her head between her hands, fingers digging furiously into her hair. When had Tuney come into this... What was even happening anymore? Her own brain was confusing her. Her brain, the only tool she trusted one hundred percent.

She couldn't think.

She couldn't _not_ think.

It wasn't James's idea, but he still hadn't told her the truth. But maybe... Maybe that was because of loyalty to his friends, and not because of some underhanded hope that she would actually fall for him just because a crystal ball got it into its bulbous head to dictate her life.

If Alice had done something stupid like that, would she have covered for her?

Would she?

Lily let out a cry and shook her head in consternation, red tangles of hair swinging forward to curtain her face.

It didn't make it right. It didn't make it fair.

But it did sort of make it understandable.

She had to find James. Now.

She pushed her way through the portrait hole and made her way towards the boys' dormitories, swallowing down the sudden explosion of nerves in her stomach.

 _James._

 _Why did things have to get so complicated?_

As she rounded the corner, already raising a hand to push the door open, she blinked and came to a halt before she went any further.

She didn't know what she was going to say.

But that didn't seem to matter- she had hurt him. She'd been hurting him for ages, if Remus was right, and that... That was unacceptable.

A sudden suspicion crept over her.

What if- What if Remus-

 _What?_ sneered a cold voice in her head. _Lied to you? Really, Lily?_

He's done it before, she argued back, before she shook it away.

Remus had made a mistake. But he wouldn't lie to her again. He was her friend as well as James's. Surely that had to count for something.

She pushed open the door and marched up the stairs, her heart thundering against her ribcage.

She didn't love him. She knew that much, because she didn't know what love _was_. Heck, she'd thought of James as a nuisance less than a week ago.

But she knew what love did to people.

She mounted the stairs, ignoring the stares of the boys she passed, and only paused to ask which room was James's. The boy gave her an odd look, but pointed her in the right direction.

Lily paused as the door came into view, hand raised to knock. It took her a moment to realize she was very much afraid.

She brought her hand down on the wood, knocking once, twice, three times.

"Go away, Sirius."

She pushed the door open and felt a stab of guilt upon seeing James sprawled across his bed, hands locked behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

He hadn't even taken off his shoes.

He looked up at her as she became framed in the doorway, light spilling around her, and she met his eyes, words drying on her tongue before they even formed. He started, rose into an upright position, and cocked his head slightly, a furrow between his eyebrows. "Lily?"

"Hi."

What a stupid thing to say.

He raised an eyebrow, and she wanted to smack him for managing such a casual expression at a time like this.

"Hi...?"

He sounded so confused. Why did he have to look so adorable when he sounded confused?

How ridiculous was that?

He shifted, drawing her eyes, and swung his legs off the bed, letting his feet take his weight and took a few steps toward her, but stopped a comfortable distance away. He still looked puzzled, and the twist of stale emotion on his face gave her the sinking feeling that she'd intruded on something private.

"I... Uh-" Why was it so hard to look him in the eye? "Remus told me everything." She blurted it out at last, just because she couldn't remember what she had come here for or what she had wanted to say or why this had seemed like a good idea.

"Ah."

Silence stretched in between them like a rubber band, and she longed to snap it as the distance between them became palpable.

So she did.

Words- so recently after her entire vocabulary dissipated into smoke- came busting back to life and nearly split her at her seams. "Listen, James, I- uh- I made a mistake. I'm sorry, I'm shouldn't have- shouldn't have, you know," she waved her hand vaguely in his direction, eyes drifting anywhere but his face, "yelled at you, or- Well, actually, no, you did kind of deserve that for not telling me, even if it wasn't your idea and you were covering for Remus, but I just- I'm sorry."

What a stupid apology.

Did he even understand that? She wouldn't have understood it if someone came up to her and said all that in a rush.

She glanced at his face and to her shock- and irritation- his lips were almost twitching.

"James!" she complained, and he snickered.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture that was ruined by the tentative smile teasing his face. "I'm just wondering what you're apologizing for, exactly. Everything you said was true. Well, except the part about me manipulating you."

He lowered his hands, smile fading as quickly as it had come. "I wouldn't do that."

She moistened her lips.

 _Sorry for what? For not loving you back? For not giving you a chance all this time? For...what?_

Well, she'd come this far, hadn't she?

She lifted her chin. "I'm sorry I've been...brushing you off, all this time." _To quote Remus._

He quirked an eyebrow questioningly.

"Oh please, you can't not know what I'm talking about."

He smiled slightly and shrugged, a slash of sunlight bringing the circle of soft green in his eyes to life. "Humor me."

She tapped a foot, narrowing her eyes at his apparent amnesia for the past six years of rejection. "James, seriously. I'm talking about the whole 'will you date me' and 'get lost' thing we've had going for _forever_."

He laughed at her definition of their relationship, but something in it was more strained than she remembered, and she bit down on her lip, wondering why she felt so bad for something she couldn't help.

She couldn't help not liking James the way he liked her. No, correction, the way he _loved_ her.

Because she didn't.

She didn't like the way he constantly ran his hand through his hair. She didn't like his eyes, or his refusal to give up his friends even when faced with her wrath, or the way his laugh sounded like a song. She still hated his arrogant swagger and Severus... His treatment of Sev should not be forgotten.

The hurt way his gaze wouldn't reach hers didn't change that this was still the boy who had been a wasp buzzing around her life for far too long.

The idea was ludicrous.

"I'm just...sorry I didn't give you a chance."

She spread her hands before her, uncertain where to go from here. This was uncharted territory.

The smile he bestowed on her was gentle, and it made her pulse flutter. For _some reason_.

"It's okay, Lily-pad. I never exactly helped my case."

 _No. No, stop looking like that, James. Stop that._

A chance.

A chance.

She tilted her head slightly, words lining her lips.

 _He loves you_.

He waited, head listing curiously, and her eyes drifted all over his face, lighting briefly on his mouth before flicking away again.

A chance.

She could give him that. He was kinder than she'd thought. He was strangely loyal, and sweet, and cute, and funny, and-

And, well, he loved her. That was certainly worth investigating.

He hadn't cursed Severus even when the Slytherin presented himself on a silver platter to the Quidditch hero.

He hadn't given up Sirius, even when he was being a total idiot.

He hadn't given up Remus, even when he was being far less smart than Lily usually gave him credit for.

He _loved_ her.

The idea was ludicrous.

But not impossible.

A chance.

"James."

"Mm?"

"Will you go out with me?"

James POV

He stared at her, not entirely sure he'd heard her correctly.

She waited, the faintly satisfied smile starting to quirk the corner of her mouth begging to be kissed off, and he vaguely realized his jaw had dropped.

"I've got some really weird deja vu going on right about now."

She snickered. "Like an opposite effect kind of thing?"

"Yup, like that."

She raised an eyebrow, an attractive placement of weight on one hip, and he wondered how unfairly cute one girl could be.

"So? Gonna leave me hanging?"

"Uh- Yes. Uh huh."

 _Wow. Smooth. Like cake batter._

What?

She let out a soft breath. "Oh good. For one really scary moment, I was afraid you'd say no, and that just would've been more awkward than I'm wiling to deal with."

He smirked, tugging his composure back together. "No no, I was saying 'yes' to leaving you hanging."

She blinked, seemed to realize he was kidding, and then scowled at him with no real bite behind it.

He laughed, and once he started, it was hard to stop. After a moment, she joined in, and he wondered happily if he was either dreaming or got a really bad hit to the head from a Bludger. There was no way Lily Evans had asked him out. No way.

But she had.

And here she was. Laughing with him, in his room, right after exploding at him and apologizing for never giving him a chance when really, he'd been an idiot and couldn't exactly blame her for it.

She grinned at him, eyes so bright, so green, and this... This no longer felt like falling.

Or maybe it just felt like falling up.

 **A/N: Wow, I love writing fluff. XDD Character development hit these last few chapters like a freight train. Lol. I'm not entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I'm not sure why- other than the vague feeling I'm moving the story too fast, as she was yelling at him a chapter ago. XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: ...I am so sorry. But, um, here *shoves chapter forward* have this extra-long chapter! :O**

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I don't wanna know what J.K. Rowling would do to me if I tried to take 'em from her. :) I do own the shenanigans I put them through though ;P _That's_ all mine ;P

iAmAMarauderAtHeart: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it :P

zihinbend: I thought putting a twist on the whole "asking out on a date thing" could be interesting. :P I just wanted to tinker, lol

Guest: Heh, thanks. :) And yes! I'm intending to see this through to the end! I'm very sorry my update schedule is so sporadic; inspiration is a bit of a wild ride for me, and I do apologize for it.

 **Chapter Nine**

Lily POV

"I'M SO PROUD OF YOU."

As Lily recounted the story to Alice- who was an excellent audience, gasping, laughing, and occasionally shedding a tear in all the correct spots- it wasn't until Lily brought up the date with James that Alice flung herself at her and hugged her, nearly strangling her.

"You asked him out, you asked him out, ahhh!"

"Can't- Breathe-"

"Oops, sorry." Alice hastily restrained herself, loosening her grip, and grinning at her. "You really want to date him? Not, like, a pity thing, right?"

Lily frowned at her. "Do you honestly think I'd do that to him after all that's happened?"

Alice shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "Just had to make sure. You hated him a few weeks ago, remember."

A soft smile twisted Lily's lips up and she looked down at her bedspread, smoothing the wrinkles with her fingers. "A lot has happened."

She looked up only to see Alice smiling at her, and she smiled back, and then the other girl was actually sniffling, wiping a bit of wetness away.

"Alice, seriously?" she laughed.

"I can't help it! I've known you were destiny since we were _first-years!_ "

"Oh please, I haven't even gone out with him yet."

"Yes, but it's _major_ progress. You don't hate him anymore!"

"I haven't _hated_ him in a while- I just...uh...tolerated him? Maybe he grew on me." She scratched her head. "Like a mushroom."

Alice burst into giggles and nibbled on a Pumpkin Pastry, flopping backwards onto Lily's bed, and sighed happily. "A really cute mushroom who flies around a broom. Do you like him?"

"Obviously. I'm going out with him." It still felt weird to say she liked James, in all honesty, but it was a weird she could get used to. A new, unexplored, untested kind of weird. And she was ready to experiment.

"Ha! You admitted it!"

She laughed at her, before Alice pulled her to her feet and yanked open the doors to her wardrobe.

"Alice, what are you doing?"

"We have to find you a good outfit!"

"What? I was just going to-"

"Lily Evans. You cannot go on your first date with James and not look fabulous."

"It's just James, Alice," she laughed. "This isn't exactly a normal case."

"How about...this one!"

She pulled out a red cocktail dress, and Lily snorted. "Did you plant that here beforehand? Cause I don't recognize that one."

Alice shot her a mischievous grin but didn't answer- which was an answer- and dropped the dress on the bed. "Fine, fine... It'd clash with your hair, anyway. How about this one?"

Later, when Lily had managed to extricate herself from Alice with a casual blouse and pants on- which Alice was not at all pleased about- nerves were starting to stir her stomach once more.

Whoever thought these were butterflies was an idiot. These were _bats_.

What if he thought the date she had in mind was dorky?

Well, it was rather dorky, in all honesty, but... Since when did she care about his opinion?

She popped into the Great Hall to grab a handful of chips, nibbling them as she continued meandering in no particular direction. _Maybe since Remus informed me the doofus loves me._

Speaking of Remus...

The very same boy backed out of the nearest closet, dragging Sirius by the ear, scowling fiercely, and Lily paused to watch the show. An amused smirk looped her lips upward as she realized she'd caught Remus in the middle of a rant.

"-do you know how much those cost? _No_ , obviously you don't, you uncultured cretin-"

Sirius interrupted with a snigger. "Who says 'cretin' anymore?"

"Cultured people, obviously. Shut up, Sirius-"

"Gonna put me in detention, Your Prefectliness?"

" _Don't tempt me_."

Lily giggled, drawing the attention of the unfortunate Black, whose eyes widened and he backed up- or tried to. The task was complicated by Remus's grip still on his ear.

"What's going on, guys?"

"Uh..." The boys looked at each other, and Lily arched an eyebrow curiously.

"Er, hi, Lily."

Oh. Duh.

She'd sort of...forgotten to be mad at Remus and Sirius, in light of all that had happened. A few days had passed, in which James had let slip that it was in fact both Sirius and Remus's collaboration on their wild quest for true love, or something of that sort. He'd thought Remus had told her, and Lily had to wonder about the loyalty linking all the boys. Not one had given up the other.

Sirius seemed to notice the change in her countenance, because he held up his hands in surrender and said, "Before you try to kill me, Lils, let me just say-"

"Don't let him say it," muttered Remus.

"-remember that it's hard work trying to find a hiding place for a body. Especially one that would be as well-missed as mine." He smirked, expression turning undoubtedly suggestive.

"Oh, and also," He backed up a few paces, finally managing to get loose of Remus's hold, who still looked murderous, " _technically_ , you have me to thank for your date thingy with James."

"Oh really?"

"Yep. Think about it! If I hadn't enchanted the ball you wouldn't have decided to date him. So," He waggled a finger at her with an impressive amount of sass for someone who knew he was wrong. "You can't prove what you saw in the ball wasn't your _actual future_ , seeing as you really are going to date him now."

He put his hands on his lips, striking a ridiculous pose, looking far too pleased with himself. "So. You wouldn't kill a man on unfounded grounds, would you?"

Lily couldn't help it.

She cracked a smile, trying to erase it before the boys took it the wrong way. By no means were they off the hook.

"Don't encourage him, Lily, geez, one would think you'd have learned by now."

His words only succeeded in furthering her mirth, and she fought harder to control her traitorously amused expression.

"You guys are insane," she snickered at last, only to see Remus regarding her with a sour expression on his face.

"You _guys?_ Plural?"

Sirius sniggered, reaching over and ruffling the shorter boy's light hair and Remus ducked away, glaring nastily at him, and flattened his hair.

Lily eyed them speculatively, hands slipping up to brace on her hips.

Sirius and Remus settled under her gaze, watching her with such wide eyes that she almost felt bad. She wasn't that abrasive, was she?

"Listen, uh, Lily..."

Her eyes flicked to Sirius, hardened chips of emerald.

He spread his hands before her. "I'm sorry."

Her eyebrows shot upward before she could mold her face to one of careful indifference. Sirius Black apologizing? Even Remus looked startled.

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I shouldn't have, uh, done that. Because it was dumb."

"And not your business."

"Yeah, that too."

She waited for the rest of his apology, but when none was forthcoming, her eyebrows lifted again. "Is that it?"

Sirius glanced at Remus, apparently trying not to fidget, and she bit down on her lips before they could traitorously curl upward again.

"Cut me some slack, Lils, I don't do this much."

She tapped her foot, doing her best to exude sternness, simply because seeing Sirius squirm was as rare as seeing a unicorn foal, and she wasn't going to let the sight go so easily.

Remus chose this moment to break in. "What he means is that we shouldn't have pried, because turns out we're even worse at handling this stuff than James is-"

Lily snickered at the casual insult tossed James' way.

"-and..." Remus hesitated, a hand creeping up to rub the back of his neck, mussing the errant strands of pale brown hair he had just batted Sirius away from. "We- I mean, I...was trying to help James."

He held up a hand as Lily's eyebrows shot up, apparently guessing she was about to sass him into oblivion. "That's not an excuse, Lily. I just want you to know James is like my brother, and, well... We were getting desperate." He spread his hands helplessly, baring his vulnerability to her. "We went about it the wrong way. I'm sorry."

Sirius nodded, those onyx eyes watching Lily with such hope she almost caved.

Almost.

"Okay," she agreed, and both let out what were obviously supposed to be silent sighs of relief. She smothered a giggle and went on, "But, if either of you try something like that and let me blame James for it-"

"Hey, I corrected you-"

"-I w _ill_ curse you so hard your grandchildren will blame you for their misshapen appearances."

To her surprise, both boys smiled- maybe they knew she wouldn't do any permanent damage- and Sirius thoroughly ruined the moment by leaping in the air, yelling about how he was alive, and charged off to go headbutt a column or something. Lily hadn't really looked past that, being too busy laughing and rolling her eyes.

An hour or so later, when late afternoon had begun to spread a patchwork quilt of clear sky over everything, Lily had opted for a casual- after all, the date she had in mind wasn't meant for fancy attire and plus, it was James. They had sort of gotten past that point.

Alice had not been pleased.

But as she strode down the stairs in a blousy green shirt and comfortable pants, she was nevertheless relieved that James had had the same idea and was in similarly comfy clothes. She didn't realize she'd been a tad anxious about it until she wasn't.

Before she could stop the thought, it cut into her mind: _I hope all his comfy shirts contour his muscles like that_.

Ha. Alice would have a field-day with that, which was exactly why Lily was never going to tell her about it.

He shot her a lazy grin as she strolled down the stairs and, well, as Lily was rather _distracted_ , she didn't look where she was going, crashed into a first-year (who squeaked and scampered out of the way), and toppled the rest of the way down the steps.

 _Oh, fabulous first impression, Lily. Really top-notch._

"...ow..."

A low laugh brought her back to reality, as did a calloused hand sliding under her arm and tugging her upright. "Way to make an entrance."

She frowned at him as her vision refocused. "That was not intentional."

"Uh huh. If you wanted to me to catch you, you should have said something."

His smirk both irked and flustered her, and the result was a narrowing of bright green eyes and logic descending to snark him back into place. "Wait... What? Even if that's what I'd been after- which it wasn't, mind you- the whole point of being caught is that you _don't_ -"

"Overthinking it, Lils."

She snorted and straightened her clothes, flushing slightly as she wondered for the first time how she must have appeared- spread-eagled, limbs everywhere, hair a mess, and tumbling ungracefully down a staircase. Admittedly she was near the bottom, so sustaining no injuries worse than a bruise or two, but still. Looking ridiculous was not how she wanted to start a date.

"Think more in-depth about what you're going to say then," she muttered, walking past him in typical sassy fashion and making for the front doors.

"But it complements you so well," he protested humorously, his longer stride easily eating up the distance between the two.

She snickered before she could stop herself and James... Well, James looked far too pleased with himself, but that was his usual expression, so Lily decided not to take him down a notch. For now.

"So. Lily-pad. Where are we going?"

"You'll see." She smirked as he shot her a mockingly wary look.

"Should I be scared?"

"Is that even a question?"

Lily vaguely realized she was flirting, and with that revelation came also the knowledge that she was also enjoying herself.

As they bantered and made their way across the grounds, James got it in his head to sneak a random flower- whose stem tried to strangle him first- from the greenhouses.

"Are you insane?" she asked with a snort, brushing some remnants of plant life off his shoulder.

"But look, now you get a flower."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Too much?"

"Yep."

"But it's a Prince Charming move, right?"

She laughed and shook her head, unable to argue with that logic- or that face-, and as he sauntered ahead, she tucked the little white bloom behind her ear.

"You don't even know where we're going!" she called after him with another snort, wondering where on earth he thought he was going.

"I have a pretty good guess."

"Do tell," she said, catching up with him in time to see the triumphant smile light his features.

"The lake."

She squinted at him.

"...the lake is in the opposite direction, genius."

He grinned. "Hey, the Hogwarts ground is in a circle- we could be going the long way. You could just want to stretch out our time together, you know."

He gave her a sideways, lopsided smirk that was as crooked as a bent branch. "Don't be afraid to admit it, Lily-pad."

"Merlin, you're insane."

His smirk widened, and her heart melted. Just a little.

She turned away before he could see her smile and their flirty, easygoing banter began once more.

James POV

"...the Quidditch pitch?"

She flicked a small smile over her shoulder and vanished into the shed, apparently dug around for a bit, and then came back out with two brooms. She tossed one to him, which he caught one-handed, and raised his eyebrows at it. She mocked him for being a show-off, he teased her about being jealous, and then got on to the real question of the day.

"Are you trying to win my heart with Quidditch, Lily?" he asked, pretending to look suspicious. "Why you are clever, aren't you."

She chuckled and mounted the broom, tossing a flirty glance over her shoulder and a teasing phrase that made his heart stop dead. "I thought I already had your heart."

Either he was incredibly transparent, or yes, Lily _was_ that clever.

But he laughed it off, because he knew she was teasing, even though his accelerated heartbeat was frantically trying to tell him it was otherwise, and then they were off into the air.

As they skimmed the tops of trees, James sped up to her and said lightly, though underlying curiosity peeked out, "Wow, breaking all the rules to be with me, Lils?"

He indicated the Forbidden Forest swaying like so many green hands below them.

She huffed a laugh, but didn't answer his unspoken query.

As they soared over the forest, however, he got an answer. Or, part of one, at least.

She dipped below the canopy and he followed, eyebrows flicking upward as he wondered what the wonderful, intelligent, creative Lily Evans had come up with this time.

He found her nestled in the fork of a tree and he tilted his head at her, landing beside her and stowing his broom in a convenient hole in the trunk. He hoped no squirrels or woodtruckles were nesting there. He'd rather not fight off the creatures of the forest today, of all days.

"Lily...?"

She pressed a finger to her lips and pointed to the clearing below them. And for a moment, James didn't see anything, but then... Then a sprite danced into view. And then another, lacing its delicate fingers through the first's. From up in the tree, concealed to all but Lily, he couldn't make out their elvin features, but he watched as more and more poured into view. Little dots of lights surrounded the fairies, in every color imaginable, and they spun together. Where their little feet landed, mushrooms sprouted, bright red and spotted white. They traced shapes and colors, flying through the air as easily as he might swim through water, though no broom supported their spindly weights.

He had never seen these creatures before.

And for what seemed like ages, they spun and worked their magic, sprinkling leaves with gold and stringing cobwebs with phosphorescent beads. They interlocked hands and formed towers, dancing and celebrating to something he didn't understand, but was too captivated to ask.

When it was at last over, the pixies slipped away into the brush as swiftly and silently as they'd come. Even the perpetual glow that followed them seemed to dim, vanishing with them and their unearthly grace.

"What were those?" he asked, after a moment, his voice sliding through the awed silence she and him had sunk into.

Lily brushed a strand of red hair back behind her ear, her eyes alight, and said, "Fae. They- They only do that once a year, and no one knows why yet. Some say it's to commemorate the cycle of life and death. Others say it's a dance to find their mate, sort of...like humans with dances and...that sort of thing."

He grinned at the flush of red in her cheeks.

She scowled at him, though the blush filtering through her freckles said she was not as confident as she wished to appear. "I read about it in Care of Magical Creatures, okay? I just thought it would be cool."

Summoning his courage, drawing up his cool reserves of confidence, he reached over and gathered her chin in a few fingers.

"Beautiful," he reassured her, with a quiet smile. And she smiled another one of those heart-stopping smiles.

The rain came out of nowhere.

One moment, they were hanging out in a tree, chatting and flirting and generally making James believe he was dreaming, and then the next, the sky was growling thunderously at the earth. They had just enough time to scale down (Lily thankfully not falling this time) and grab their brooms before it came sheeting down like so many bullets.

It drenched them to the bone, turning the world silver-gray and blurry, but he could feel a laugh rumbling out of him like the giddy teenager that she had reduced him to. He leaped on his broom and shot low to the ground, having no intention of getting zapped by lightning, and called over the roar of the storm.

"I'll race you, Lily-pad!"

He won, of course. Captain of the Quidditch team, being the best Seeker in about a century, and all that gave him just a little edge. But Lily wasn't bad at all- she had a few tricky maneuvers up her soaked sleeve, like letting the wind carry her momentum or casting hasty spells to speed herself onward.

He protested that that second one was cheating. She laughed and told him he would have used it if he'd thought of it first.

Nah. He could win without magic, as he then proved to her, and he was still determined to be irritatingly smug about it, and she still sent a jet of water from her wand at him for being ridiculously annoying-on-purpose.

An all-out water war followed, until what parts hadn't been soaked by rain definitely were now, and, squabbling and giggling, the two ran for the shelter of the broom shed. Not that it really mattered. They couldn't have gotten any wetter if they tried.

"This water cannot be good for the brooms," said Lily's voice from somewhere ahead of him, the inky, liquid darkness of the shed hiding her from view.

"That would be why there's a drying charm."

A snort sounded from ahead and he lit his wand just as Lily dug hers from her pocket. "I was just about to use it."

"Oh, sure. Of course you were."

"I was!"

He chuckled and shook his head, sending droplets flying as Lily dried the brooms and then directed her wand-tip at herself, a stream of hot hair making her clothes stick to her skin as they came into the halfway stage of not-quite-dry and not-quite-wet.

Which...made it a bit hard to stop staring.

Lily POV

She soon gave up trying to dry herself completely- it was taking too long, and she'd just get wet again once they headed back to the castle. So instead, she directed her attention to putting the semi-dry brooms back on their shelves, standing on tiptoe to reach.

A rustle reached her ears a moment before James passed her and took the broom off her hands, replacing it in its rightful place with an amused, "Shorty."

"Hey, you're technically supposed to be short, you know. Seeker and all. You must be the tallest one in the history of Seekers, and I'm pretty sure that's..." He looked at her, brows raised, lips quirked, and she tried to breathe. "...not allowed."

"Are you trying to flatter me or insult me? I can't tell which."

She snorted and waved him away, starting to pick her way over the brooms still scattered on the floor, obviously left there by less-responsible people than herself. Hmph. However, the light from James' wand only reached so far and-

-she tripped. Again.

This time, however, James caught her and placed her back on her feet, though he dropped his wand in the process.

"Thanks," she murmured, a little irked he had needed to rescue her- a leftover from their previously dissolved rivalry.

"Are you absolutely sure you haven't been fishing for me to catch you this whole time?"

She rolled her eyes all the way up until her chin was tilted up and her gaze was on his. "If I was trying to do that, Potter, wouldn't it be so much more dramatic to fall from a broomstick?"

"Dramatic, yeah. Sensible, no. And you're nothing if not sensible, Lily-pad."

"Well, I'm glad you know what sensibility is, at least, even if you don't use it."

He smirked, the distance between the two of them somehow lessening, and he bent a fraction closer. Lily's stomach lurched as she realized he had not picked up his wand.

"Better to understand both sides of the coin to pull off the best kind of mischief, you know."

The pale light from the forgotten wand at their feet set white glows against the hazel backdrop of his eyes.

"You sound like you've put a great deal of thought into this," she murmured, swallowing. A faint tingling crept from the crowd of her red head to the tips of her painted toes, and she prayed she sounded at least vaguely normal, because she was no longer at normal mental capacity around James. _When did that happen_.

She tried for a careless smirk, like she hadn't just suddenly noticed how very close he was, or what the faint light was doing to his jawline, or what _she_ wanted to do to his jawline.

 _Ludicrous_.

"Mmhmm," he murmured, shifting forward a couple of degrees, blessedly not noticing her heart catapulting itself into her throat. "Glad you accepted at last?"

That jolted her out of the James-induced haze long enough to scowl mockingly at him. "Hey, I asked _you._ "

He laughed softly. "Well, yeah, but wasn't that kind of like an acceptance to the hundreds of suggestions I've offered?"

He was so close. His fridge of inky hair brushed her forehead and she couldn't stop staring at his mouth.

"Uh- No."

"Hey, you went out with me, right?"

"Technically, _you_ went out with _m_ -"

His mouth was on hers before she could finish, a barely-there, masculine chuckle buried between their lips.

She forgot how to thread thoughts together into coherent sentences. She forgot what breathing was like. She forgot how her body and her brain were supposed to function like a normal human being's, because the average human being didn't have James Potter's arms snaking around their waist or his lips on theirs, so they could take their _normal human_ _functions_ and get out.

So her lips stayed nestled against his as she molded further and further into him, like she was made for him, like he was made for her. Like they were made for this moment.

The storm hissed lightning and cracked a whip of thunder above them that Lily did not hear as his mouth drew across hers, long and languid and deep, like he had all the time in the world and intended to savor every moment of eternity. And it was only when he coaxed a small noise from the back of her throat that Lily's hands buried themselves in his hair and pulled him closer, no longer wanting him to be slow, or gentle, or careful.

But to her surprise, he parted from her, leaving her with breaths whooshing out of parted lips.

"Wh- What's the matter?" she whispered.

"Nothing," he answered, meeting her eyes for a moment, before leaning forward to barely ghost his lips over hers again. "Nothing at all."

 **A/N: What do you guys think? Was the image in the ball Lily's actual future or a result of Remus's magic? XD And, y'know, James halting it at the end just makes sense to me- that he wouldn't want to take things so fast when everything up until that point had been very slow going. So... Uh... I hope it was worth the wait. :) I'm thinking there will be at least one more chapter, possibly two ^^**


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